The EU yesterday scheduled talks with Russia to press for a speedy resolution of a dispute with Ukraine that has reduced gas supplies to eastern and southern Europe.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 in a dispute over debts and pricing that shows no sign of ending, worrying European consumers that depend on Russia for a quarter of their natural gas. An EU fact-finding mission will meet Gazprom officials today, although there was no immediate danger to EU consumers from the dispute, an EU Commission spokesman said.
The Commission said the meeting would be in a European capital but the venue had not been confirmed.
"Since we are the main market for Russian gas .. we have an obvious interest in applying pressure on these parties to reach as soon as possible an agreement which is definitive," Johannes Laitenberger said.
Disruptions to gas supplies that had already hit Turkey and countries in eastern Europe spread to Croatia and Greece yesterday, energy firms said.
"The situation is worrying when someone is unable to fulfil their contract," Dimitar Gogov, chief executive officer of Bulgarian state gas monopoly Bulgargaz, said yesterday. His country saw between 10 and 15 per cent drop in gas supplies from Russia.
The row, which mirrors a dispute three years ago that disrupted gas supplies to Europe, threatens Russian ties with the West already strained by Moscow's war in Georgia in August.
The Kremlin has long opposed Ukraine's ambition to join Nato and some Western policymakers see parallels between the Georgian conflict and Russia's treatment of Ukraine.
State-controlled Gazprom has blamed Ukraine for siphoning off or blocking deliveries of gas equivalent to one-sixth of Russia's total supplies to Europe.
Supplies of Russian gas to Greece have been cut by a third, an official from Greek natural gas operator DEPA said, while supplies to Romania were 30 per cent below contracted levels.
Ukraine has accused Moscow of deliberately cutting flows to Europe, where gas is in high demand as temperatures drop below zero. Kiev has said the EU should send a signal to the Kremlin that it cannot bully its pro-Western neighbours.
Worries about the impact of the row on fuel supplies, coupled with the conflict in the Middle East, helped drive oil prices to a three-week high. Any gas shortages could drive up demand for oil products.
Hungary, Romania and Poland have also reported small drops in supply. Supplies to the Czech Republic have been restored after a five per cent drop on Sunday.
Gazprom is demanding Ukraine pay €323 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas after Kiev rejected a previous proposal of €300. The price is more than double what Kiev says it is willing to pay.
Ukraine's economy, among the worst hit by the global financial crisis, is forecast to contract by between three per cent and five per cent this year, leaving it little room to accept the higher gas prices Russia is demanding.